Pontiac man accused of kidnapping 30 years ago gets 1-year jail term

The man accused of kidnapping his sister's infant son 30 years ago in Pontiac has been sentenced to one year in the Oakland County Jail.

With an emotional audience of family members in attendance, Henry Richard Rogan Jr. was sentenced Thursday afternoon by Oakland County Circuit Judge Michael Warren.

"They stole my son," said Robin Bruce, Rogan's sister.

"I begged him to give me my son back. Yeah, they raised him, but that was taken away from me."

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Bruce has seen her son just once in the past 30 years, when attending his wedding.

"I've lived over 30 years in fear of these people coming back and getting my other children," she said.

"My son will be 32 in December. I have no idea where he lives or what he does."

Bruce said her son has children of his own, but she has never seen them.

"There was a big mistake made that day," Rogan said before being sentenced.

Rogan said he and the other suspects were under the impression that the child was being mistreated, but Bruce denied those allegations.

"We were told the baby wasn't being taken care of," he said. "It was a dumb thing. At the time, we were young and stupid."

Rogan is one of three people who kicked in the door to Bruce's apartment in January 1982.

Bruce was holding the child when Rogan began hitting her in the head, according to court documents. The men kidnapped the child and then took Bruce's husband to a home in West Bloomfield Township, where a mutual acquaintance emerged with a shotgun. The man with the gun allowed Keith Bruce to escape, and he immediately notified police.

Rogan said the child was raised in Florida by Rogan's father, Rogan's father's sister and her husband.

"We got him his high school education and six years of college," Rogan said, adding that the child earned a teaching degree.

"He's a really good kid," Rogan said. "He just grew up thinking that his mom abandoned him."

Rogan was convicted of attempted kidnapping, enticing away a child under 14 years of age.

Other charges in the case were dismissed, in part because of the length of time that passed since the crimes allegedly occurred.

"This is not your typical kidnapping case," Rogan's attorney, Doug Hampton, said during the court appearance. "This involved family members."

Hampton acknowledged that his client and the other suspects should have gone through the courts if they felt the child was being mistreated. He also said Rogan's father was arrested shortly after the incident in 1982 and was sentenced to six months in jail.

Keith Bruce, also addressed the court.

"A child was kidnapped," said Bruce, who was also present that day.

"I was beaten. My wife was beaten. I just don't understand how somebody could break into your house, beat you with a gun butt, knock your teeth out, and get 12 months (in jail)."